Free Alpha's Howling Desire (BBW Paranormal Romance) by Meg Ripley Page B

“You know, it’s not fair that I have a tell for my anger and you don’t.”
    “I don’t think it’s fair that I have a tell in general, and you don’t,” Susanna shot back, a playful smile spreading on her lips. Her tight green T-shirt was flecked with moisture, mostly likely from making her drink. “I can’t ever remember to avoid rubbing my eyebrows when I’m nervous. At least you might be able to force an American accent eventually.”
    “Perhaps something southern,” Thomas said thoughtfully. “Women like southern gentlemen, don’t they?”
    “Those don’t exist anymore, dear,” Susanna said, laughing. “Southern Belles are a little different, too. I love your accent.”
    “Because it’s sexy?” Thomas asked, arching one eyebrow and winking while his mate tried to stifle a giggle.
    “Because it’s you,” she said after she finally got her laughter under control. She leaned back in the high-backed chair, taking another hearty swig of her drink before setting it down on one of the black coasters. Thomas watched her fiddle with the glass absentmindedly for a minute as she became lost in her train of thought. Then she raised her oval-shaped face again said, softly: “Was I right about the steak?”
    Thomas tensed, surprised by the topic even though they’d spoken about it before. “Yes. I can’t believe I’d forgotten about that. I’m so sorry, Susanna; I got so worried about the amount of work to be done, none of which has any plausible explanation to a bunch of humans who can’t remember anything.”
    Susanna reached across the table and took one of his larger hands in hers, shaking her head gently and smiling as he spoke. “It’s ok, mi querido. Someone needs to look out for my family, and you and Evan are the only ones level-headed enough to actually plan what needs to be done.”
    “But we need to bring this up, too,” Thomas insisted, his voice thick with remorse. How could I have been so selfish? Susanna’s having visions, and I’m worrying about a few angry humans. “I mean, they’re coming faster, and they also seem to be coming true every time. Even small stuff, like Ariel making steak.”
    Susanna sat back in her chair again, her body suddenly alive with energy. “But we got somewhere with this. We know that the visions are consistently realistic so far. And Evan didn’t say anything? I mean, I know that Natalie knows about them, and that she wants everyone with burgeoning powers to work on them, but does she need anything specific from me? I wonder how I can train this. Do you think—” she stopped, apparently realizing she was starting to trip over her words. “Oh, man. I have to calm down.”
    Thomas stood and walked over to her side of the table, dropping to one knee and placing his hands on either side of her waist. Susanna took a deep breath to steady herself, then looked down at her mate, who was trying to compose his angular features into a comforting expression.
    “It’s okay to be excited,” he said slowly, “but now we have to tell Natalie about the things you saw regarding the fire.”
    Susanna sighed and slumped forward in her chair. This was the tough part. Though many members of their pride had been gaining mysterious new powers over the last month, a lot of them took comfort in knowing their abilities would be put to good use. Natalie and Charlie could communicate telepathically anytime they wanted, enabling them to make decisions faster and more fluidly than ever before; Ariel could now manipulate a thousand of pounds of any mineral or metal with just the wave of her hand, meaning she could help with building efforts until she got too tired; and Leslie could move faster than anyone their pride had ever seen. Natalie, as their matriarch, was interested in and supportive of Susanna’s flashes of perception, but so far, they hadn’t been of any actual use. She’d predicted a window breaking from a stray golf ball, a car accident in front of